Indian Agricultural Research Institute

{{Infobox organization

| name = Indian Agricultural Research Institute

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| image = Indian Agricultural Research Institute Logo.png

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| abbreviation = IARI

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| formation = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1905|04|01}}

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| purpose = Agricultural research and education

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| location = Pusa, Delhi

| coords = {{coord| 28.080|N|77.120|E|display=inline}}

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| leader_title = Director

| leader_name = Cherukumalli Srinivasa Rao{{cite web | title = Administration | url = https://www.iari.res.in/en/management-and-administration.php | access-date = 2 January 2025 }}

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| parent_organisation = ICAR

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| website = {{URL|http://www.iari.res.in/}}

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The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), commonly known as the Pusa Institute, is India's national institute for agricultural research, education and extension. The name Pusa Institute is derived from the fact that the institute was originally located in Pusa, Bihar as the Imperial Institute of Agricultural Research in 1911. It was then renamed as the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute in 1919 and following a major earthquake in Pusa in 1934, it was relocated to Delhi in 1936. The current institute in Delhi is financed and administered by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The IARI was responsible for the research leading to the "Green Revolution in India" of the 1970s.{{cite web|title=History of Research in Indian Agriculture |publisher=Indian Agricultural Research Institute |url=http://www.iari.res.in/centenary/slide3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824112707/http://www.iari.res.in/centenary/slide3.html |archive-date=24 August 2007 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web | title = 'Pusa Institute' is still the best| url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pusa-Institute-is-still-the-best/articleshow/302490760.cms? |date=30 September 2001| access-date = 13 September 2013| work = The Times of India}} IARI ranked First among Agriculture and Allied Universities in the National Institutional Ranking Framework NIRF (India Rankings 2024).{{Cite web |title=NIRF Ranking 2024 |url=https://www.nirfindia.org/nirfpdfcdn/2024/pdf/Report/IR2024_Report.pdf}}

History

File:IARILogo.jpg

Image:IARI Pusa Bihar.jpg

The institute was established in 1905 at Pusa, Bihar, with financial assistance of Henry Phipps, Jr., an American philanthropist. Phipps was a family friend of Lady Curzon, who was a daughter of an American millionaire, and the wife of Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India. Phipps stayed as a guest of the Curzons during his visit to India and left behind a donation of £30,000, which was used to establish the institute. He laid the foundation stone of the Agricultural Research Institute and college on 1 April 1905. The institute was originally called the Agricultural Research Institute (ARI). Its name was changed to the Imperial Institute of Agricultural Research in 1911, and to the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute in 1919. The choice of establishing it in Pusa in northern Bihar was the proximity to the indigo plantations which were in need of revival following the German synthesis of aniline in 1899. One of the first scientists to be deputed to the institute was the English chemist John Walter Leather who had worked from 1892 with the agricultural department in India. He moved to the institute in 1906.{{cite journal| title= History of agricultural research in India|author1=Borthakur, Anwesha| author2=Singh, Pardeep| journal=Current Science|volume=105| issue=5| year=2013| pages=587–593}}{{cite journal|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science| volume=27| issue=4| year=1992| title=Progress of Indian agriculture: 1900-1980| author=Mukherjee, S.K.| pages=445–452}}

However, the institute was damaged during the devastating Bihar earthquake of 15 January 1934. The Secretary of State approved the transfer in July, 1934.{{cite web | title = Pusa Agricultural Research Institute|publisher=The Indian Express, Madras| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ogBFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XLcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2532,1724532&dq=pusa+institute&hl=en|page=1|date=4 July 1934| access-date = 13 September 2013}} The Standing Finance Committee of the Union Assembly finally announced on 25 August 1934 in Shimla, the decision to shift the institute to New Delhi at the approximate cost of {{INRConvert|3.8|m}}.{{cite web | title = Pusa Institute To Be Removed To Delhi|publisher= The Indian Express, Madras| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zqo-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=EkwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5208,4384934&dq=pusa+institute&hl=en|page=1|date= 27 August 1934| access-date = 13 September 2013}} to a place that is now called Pusa in New Delhi. The director B. Viswanath, a soil scientist was to be the first Indian to head the institute. The new campus at New Delhi was inaugurated on 29 July 1936, while the new building of the Imperial Institute of Agricultural Research was inaugurated by the then Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow on 7 November 1936.{{cite web| title =Agricultural Research Institute Building Opened |work=Indian Express|page=2|date= 9 November 1936| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JME-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=bkwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6218,6477316&dq=pusa+institute&hl=en| access-date = 13 September 2013 }}

=Post-independence: 1947–present=

{{aligned table|class=infobox|leftright=y|nowrap2=y

|title = Directors

|Bernard Coventry |1904–1916

|E.J. Butler |1920{{0|–1920}}

|William McRae|1929{{0|–1929}}

|W.H. Harrison|1929–1930

|Bernard Keen|1930–1931

|William McRae|1931–1934

|F.J.F. Shaw|1934–1935

|B. Viswanath |1935–1944

|H.S. Pruthi|1944–1945

|J.N. Mukherjee |1945–1950

|B.P. Pal|1950–1965

|A.B. Joshi |1965–1966

|M.S. Swaminathan|1966–1972

|A.B. Joshi |1972–1977

|H.K. Jain |1977–1984

|A.M. Michael |1986–1990

|S.K. Sinha |1991–1994

|R.B. Singh|1995–1999

|Panjab Singh |2000–2002

|S. Nagarajan|2002-2005

|S. A. Patil|2006-2009

|H. S. Gupta|2009-2014

|Trilochan Mohapatra|2015-2016

|Ashok Kumar Singh|2020-2025

|Cherukumalli Srinivasa Rao|2025-}}

Post-independence, the institute was renamed the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, and in 1950 the Shimla sub-station of institute developed Rust-resistant varieties of wheat, including Pusa 718, 737, 745, and 760.{{cite web

| title = Rust-resistant Wheat Varieties .Work At Pusa Institute|work=The Indian Express| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Jcc-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=lUwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3228,3861741&dq=pusa+institute&hl=en|date=7 February 1950| access-date = 13 September 2013}} In 1958, it was recognized as a "deemed university" under the UGC act of 1956{{cite web|title=UGC Act-1956|url=http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_document/ugc_act.pdf|website=mhrd.gov.in/|publisher=Secretary, University Grants Commission|access-date=1 February 2016}} of Parliament and since then it has awarded MSc and PhD degrees. IARI has also started its undergraduate programme from 2022 to 2023.{{cite web| title = About IARI | url = http://www.iari.res.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161&Itemid=1730| access-date = 13 September 2013}}

What remained of the institute at the original location was downgraded to an agricultural research station until 1970, when the Government of Bihar established the Rajendra Agricultural University at the location.{{cite web| title = About Pusa| publisher = Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa Samastipur, Bihar| url = http://www.pusavarsity.org.in/about_pusa.php| access-date = 13 September 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130729134132/http://www.pusavarsity.org.in/about_pusa.php| archive-date = 29 July 2013| url-status = dead}}

Campus

The campus is spread over {{convert|500|ha|km2}}, 8 km west of New Delhi Railway Station. This was initially outside Delhi, but over the decades the city has grown much beyond the campus.{{cite web | title = Our Campus | url = http://www.iari.res.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=208&Itemid=506| access-date = 13 September 2013}} Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute is affiliated with and is located in the campus of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

{{cite web| title = Origin & Growth |publisher=Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute| url =http://www.iasri.res.in/iasriwebsite/new_page_5.htm | access-date = 13 September 2013 }}

Schools at IARI

School of Crop Improvement{{cite web | title = Schools of IARI | url = http://www.iari.res.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=129&Itemid=614| access-date = 13 September 2013 }}
School of Plant Protection
School of Basic Sciences
School of Natural Resource Management
School of Social Sciences
School of Horticultural Science